Finned tube radiator supporting structure



y 0, 1958 G. R. BEMISH 2,835,478 FINNED TUBE RADIATOR SUPPORTING STRUCTURE Filed Jan. 6, 1955 I /2 i I m BY AT T UPNE Y gm" l I 4- GIEDRGE REEMIBH United St- 2,835,478 Patented May 20, 1958 FINNED TUBE RADIATOR SUPPORTING STRUCTURE George R. Bemish, Rochester, Y. Application January 6, 1955, Serial No. 480,091 1 Claim. (Cl. 257-163) This invention relates to pipe hangers and more particularly to a hanger adapted for domestic hot water heating system piping and radiators therefor.

With the advent of the one-story domestic dwelling of extended dimensions and the use of copper piping for the hot water heating systems thereof, the problem of expansion and contraction of the long runs of hot water pipes has become acute. The wide fluctuation in the temperature of the water contained within the pipe during successive cycles during which the hot water is circulated for a period and then allowed to cool, results in expansion and contraction of the pipe in reference to the supports. Where ordinary pipe supports are employed, upon which the pipe rests in frictional engagement, the movement of the. pipe in its supports in response to expansion and contraction results in undesirable noise as well as wear upon the thin wall of the pipe employed. The same difiiculty has been found to be present in baseboard radiators employing finned hot water pipe, since the length of the pipe in each section extends along the entire length of a room. The consequent increments of expansion and contraction as the successive heating cycles occur are considerable, and relative movement between the radiator pipe and supports must be provided for.

The present invention is directed to a hanger for hot water pipes employed in hot water heating systems in which the pipes are supported upon rollers so that the pipe may move with reference to the hanger without setting up forces, which when released result in undesirable noise. Further, the roller support for the pipes provides a support which avoids wear on the exterior wall of the pipe. The invention is particularly directed to the provision of a roller support for such pipes which may always be efi'ec tive, the roller construction being such that the roller in engagement with the pipe will always be free to rotate even after long years of service. More particularly, the invention has to do with concentric rollers mounted upon a hanger which provides a double insurance against the roller in engagement with the pipe ever seizing on the hanger, or ever failing to provide a quiet rolling support for the pipe.

The above and other novel features of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter from the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is expressly understood that the drawings are employed for purposes of illustration only and are not designed as a definition of the limits of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claim.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the pipe hanger showing the double rolls;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the hanger with the rolls shown in section;

Figure 3 is a lower end fragmentary elevational view of the hanger with the rolls shown in section;

Figure 4 is a modified view of the hanger showing the same adapted to a baseboard radiator construction; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary side elevation with parts shown in section of the form shown in Figure 4.

In the drawings there is shown in Figures l-3 a pipe hanger comprising a U-shaped wire having vertical sections 10 and 12 joined by a substantially straight horizontal mid-section 14, the upper ends of the vertical sections 10 and 12 having ends 16 and 18 bent at right angles and sharpened as at 20 and 22 at their ends for driving into a joist or other support as is indicated at 24 in Figure 2. The horizontal section 14 is provided with an inner sleeve 26 and an outer sleeve 28, which are free to rotate with respect to each other and upon the horizontal section 14. The outer sleeve 28 is adapted to support a pipe such as indicated at 30, which forms an extended run of, for'example, a hot water heating system.

The sleeves 26 and 28 will in practice be provided with lubricant therebetween as is indicated at 32, which lubricant will be retained between the sleeves over a long period of time, by reason of capillary attraction, so that the facing cylindrical walls of the inner and outer sleeves will be prevented from corroding or rusting, and the two sleeves will always rotate'freely. In practice, additional lubricant will be applied between the inner sleeve and the horizontal part 14 of the hanger wire so that under no circumstances will there be any substantial friction against the free rotation of the outer sleeve 28 in response to horizontal expansion and contraction movement of the pipe 30.

In Figure 4, the hanger is shown in conjunction with a typical baseboard type of radiator-which is installed in houses along the outside walls of the various rooms adjacent the floor, such radiators usually extending the entire length of the exposed walls. Such construction comprises a back plate 34 which is secured to the wall and which may act as a heat reflector on its inner face 36. At frequent intervals along the wall, there is applied to such plate a C-shaped bracket 38 of strap iron or the like, having top and bottom horizontal sections 40 and 42 joined together forwardly thereof by the vertical portion 44. The horizontal top and bottom portions terminate rearwardly with downwardly and upwardly bent tongues 46 and 48 which are adapted to be secured to the plate 34 by suitable fastening means such as 50. The forward vertical portion 44 of the bracket 38 is adapted to support a front plate 52 providing an air inlet opening at the bottom, as at 54, and an air outlet at the top as at 56, such air outlet being formed by a top deflector plate 58 secured to the wall plate 34.

The downwardly and upwardly directed tongues 46 and 48 are sufiiciently spaced to permit the bracket to be inserted in position over the spirally finned radiator pipe generally indicated at 60. Such pipe is composed of thin wall tubing 62 to which is mechanically or otherwise secured a continuous spiral fin such as 64 or other type of radiating fin. In mounting the pipe within a series of spaced brackets 38, hangers 66 are employed, having vertical sections 68 and 70 which are threaded at their upper ends as at 72 and 74, so as to be adjustably supportable from the upper portion 40 of each bracket 38, the portions 68 and 70 passing through spaced apertures in the portion 40 of each bracket and being fitted with nuts 69 and 71. The lower end of each hanger is provided with a horizontal portion 76 to which is applied inner and outer rolls 78 and 80, as in the modification of Figures 1-3. In practice, in installing the finned radiator pipe, a section of the fin adjacent a hanger position is cut away to provide for adequatemovement of. the pipe on its hanger due to expansion or contraction.

It will be appreciated that in manufacturing hangers of the type disclosed in either of the'formsshown, that straight, stiff wire stock which may be copper bearing iron, will be employed and the sleeve rolls threaded thereon, after which the short central section will be formed by providing sharp right angle bends between the central section and the vertical sections. Thereafter, in the form shown in Figures 1-3, the sharpened end portions 16 and 18 will be formed by providing sharp right angle bends as shown. In practice, one of the bends adjacent the short central or mid-section may be formed in ad- Vance of positioning the sleeves thereon, and the second bend formed after the sleeves have been placed in position in order to facilitate forming as sharp bends as possible.

It will be seen from the foregoing, that a hanger is provided which will at all times eliminate friction between the pipe and its support, and will thereby permit the pipe to expand or contract without the hanger offering any resistance. Thus the building up of substantial forces, due to frictional hanger contact which, when released, create undesirable radiator noises is prevented, and provision made for permanence in this respect.

While the invention has been shown in its direct application to piping, and radiator construction, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. As various changes in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, as will be apparent; to those skilledin the art, reference will be had to the appended claim for a definition of the limits of the invention.

What is claimed is:

In a baseboard domestic hot water radiator construction, a support plate, a plurality of rectangular C-shaped brackets secured at spaced intervals along the plate and lying in vertical planes, a hot water radiator pipe having radial fins along its length extending through said brackets and having the fins removed in the region of each bracket, the open side of said C-shaped brackets having a dimension at least as great as the overall diameter of said pipe and fins, and a hanger suspended from the upper portion of each bracket, said hanger being composed of a section of stiffjwire. having a horizontal straight mid-section of a length greater than the pipe diameter and located beneath the pipe and parallel integral hanger portions extending at right angles to the mid-section to the upper portion of the bracket,rmeans for securing said hanger portions of each hanger to the upper portion of a bracket, and a pair of telescopically disposed roller sleeves mounted on said mid-section with the outer sleeve in supporting engagement with the undersurface of said pipe, said sleeves being rotatable with respect to each other and the midsection the diameter of the inner walls of the outer and inner sleeves, being substantially greater than the di ameter of the outer wall of the inner sleeve, and the mid section respectively, and the wall thickness of the sleeves being substantially the same.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,132,759, Bache Mar. 23, 1915 2,641,428 Kirk et a1 June 9, 1953 2,670,935 Arnold Mar. 2, 1954 2,696,368 Edwards "Dec. 7, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 493,933 Canada 1953 

